Congress: Bishop raises $525k, has $1.1 million in bank

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) today said he raised a record $525,000 in the second quarter of this year, giving him $1.1 million in cash as he looks to stave off his Republican challenger, State Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), in the Nov. 4 election.

Neither Bishop, the six-term congressman in the East End district, nor Zeldin, the victor in an expensive GOP primary on June 20, had filed their...

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Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) today said he raised a record $525,000 in the second quarter of this year, giving him $1.1 million in cash as he looks to stave off his Republican challenger, State Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), in the Nov. 4 election.

Neither Bishop, the six-term congressman in the East End district, nor Zeldin, the victor in an expensive GOP primary on June 20, had filed their campaign finance reports as of 6 p.m. today.

But Bishop put out a news release touting his fundraising, saying he would use the money to "highlight his strong record of fighting for middle-class families by protecting Long Island jobs and fixing the tax code so billionaires no longer have lower tax rates than the middle class."

The release took a shot at Zeldin and Republicans in the 1st Congressional District, which is entirely in Suffolk County, saying that GOP turnout dropped by more third from the 25,643 votes in the 2010 primary to 16,764 in this year's primary.

Zeldin campaign spokeswoman Kara Cumoletti said Zeldin's second quarter campaign finance report would be filed at 10 p.m. tonight, but signaled that Zeldin has not caught up with Bishop's fundraising.

"In the primary, we were outspent 4 to 1, yet managed to win by a landslide with over 62% of the vote," she wrote in an email. "The victory was a real win for Long Island voters who sent a clear message that they will not be bought or deceived."